VR is committed to having significant 'horizontal progression' in Pantheon, but at this time the majority of active development & refinement going on is related to class abilities, which are largely combat focused. Perception, Crafting and other 'horizontal progression' systems are advancing, but at a slower pace due to the limited amount of programming/coding resources. I'm sure the issue is even more pronounced for anyone that isn't as strongly interested in Crafting as I am. No doubt the current big push to fill out the list of functional Classes/Races for EA hasn't improved the situation either.
So you're certainly not wrong in your assesment.
I don't know what classes you like to play, but there is a middle ground available for more successful leveling & exploration by duos and trios than solo. There are usually more DPS available than any other class, so a Tank or Healer can find opportunities there. Also, sending tells to non-grouped players can often get a teammate when just being 'LFG' in the social panel hasn't panned out.
Beyond that VR seems to be making significant progress these days and the pool of players available should be increasing at fairly regular rate. Hopefully there will be more groups available before long. Good Luck.
Yes. I have seen this issue myself. That is why I always thought it was odd they way they did the pledges. Depending on your pledge level you only can play a certain number of hours. For a game like this you want to have as many players as possible playing. It makes the game better and these types of games are made for this. It's a strange choice and you would think anyone that bought the game at any level should be able to play 24/7 if they wish. It would also help them work out any server and tech issues. I get that higher pledge levels should get something extra but my opinion is game play time should be it. I guess once it enters EA there will be more players and maybe this becomes less of an issue.
I believe this is an amazing point.
I understand these are just suggestions and that right now no one is reinventing the wheel but when the drawing board comes out feel free to add these items!! :-)
i agree with OP, nothing to do often for a guy that plays a lot i find myself helping lower levels cuz i need to do something...
I would like to see more diversity for soloing too, for example, evey 2nd level you have to do a mini quest and training to learn that level's skill or spell, every 10 level make it a partner quest.
An idea i had was lets say the every 10 level you do a duo, make it so that even if you get to where you need to go it still forces only 2 and this would not be a choice at that point, you can set it up if it detects a full group then you put pressure plates where all but 2 needs to stand so they can proceed to the final stage of the event i dunno just thinking out loud and writing :-P.
Content for crafting items for example add lockboxes that could contain recepies for crafting and put them accross the lands at difficult areas to reach, and as a reward, or add other items within them and have fun with it many possibilities! i'd use the preception system for those too as it adds to the excitements as you feel like you're getting closer.
another thing, we should be able to craft paper and create ink, where one could DRAW a map as you move around to map it all out. this item could then be used to show other people where to meet for example. but each time you use it, theres a chance to destroying it , with its chance of destruction increasing each time. heck add dex check it be fun either way!
all to say is there should be content for soloing, but nothing beats a good group :-)
Cheers
Once champions are back in the game on sat the population will be a lot better for grping
Do you just put LFG on and then just simply sit there waiting for a group to invite you?
Or do you also look at the LFG search and see if there are other people around your level range that you could invite and start a group yourself?
Or even just invite one or two people of any class and duo / trio some easier mobs together to do something while waiting for the right classes to be available and form a proper group comp?
2 or 3 of any class combination can get a lot more done than any single soloer, and even if fighting the same mobs that you could be soloing, it'll still be faster with less downtime and more survivability + the social side of things.
In addition to all of this, most classes can solo dark blues just fine, some can do white or yellow cons.
I agree that it is sometimes hard to get a grp that you want.
That said, Beez' list of things to spice up leveling are almost all things that VR has said in the past they are wanting to do. But they're all second and third pass content, so just gotta be patient.
I also agree with Ez that there's not enough people trying to form groups. And I know there's not always people on lfg that fit with your lvl BUT if you travel around to solo spots, you will, like Ez said, find folks to duo or trio with. Done it many times.
On top of that, right now we can test every crafting class which is an enormous time sink and the feedback is vital.
And even nerdier things could await you. I ran around just Thronefast for about 3 hours the other day trying to get a list of all of the factions from non-hostile NPCs and learned an immense amount about what is planned once Pulse is up and running. Those not familiar with Pulse, see here: https://youtu.be/sfE-tHuEsLc
So there are plenty of things to DO, even if they're not fighting. Climb, explore. I've found tons of places where you can get stuck. I've tried exploits in certain circumstances to see if I can break stuff. All of this can be fun, especially now that you can guild up and chat even if running around by yourself. Get busy yall.
And it's okay for you to log out and take a break. If you've accomplished everything you want, well, then there's not anything left to do of course. However, if you're a fan of making your own fun there's a ton of stuff to do. Helping new players, farming for mats, leveling an alt, exploring, questing, or even a little bit of RP fun.
But there not being anything for you to do anymore, well, that isn't a hallmark of the /game/, that's a hallmark of /you/.
I think there is, and will be, plenty of things to do in the game solo, with 1-2 friends, or with a group. The question shouldn´t be about things to do solo, but about having fun doing these solo things. I know I will be enjoying my time in game in group and solo too. Maybe the problem is that you enjoy the game in a group only? Fair enough, but it doesn´t mean the game is "unbelievably boring" if not in group for everyone else, neh? I am sure that there will way easier than now to find groups during the launch of EA. Best of lucks then, and I hope to see you around.
Having played countless hours of other games that have limited solo options, but have to agree 100% with Ezrael - there is more to LFG than just turning the flag on.
In the "other game" of forced grouping, the flag goes up, /ooc, /general, /vicinity chat get the announcement, and then search others also LFG and start sending /tells.
When in doubt, make a healer/tank/support toon that will find groups easier, at least as an alt. Join a guild. Etc.
LFG takes some effort, but you get out of it what you put in.
And I mean all of this in the nicest, most positive and uplifting way. Have fun and good luck.
I'm roughly almost lvl 36. So, I'm very aware of the process. It is much easier to find groups at lower lvls. Playing an alt becomes your only solution since you are unable to progress solo. As you level at this point, it becomes harder and harder to find anyone roughly within your lvl range to get anything done. I'm having fun, but I do an enormous amount of @ss sitting. There is a lot of contention at high levels for xp groups due to the limited availability. I am in an excellent guild... and without them I'd be no where. It would just be nice to feel like I could do something when there are no groups available. Not all of us can sit around on group lists and wait for 8+ hours.
this definitely is not a WoW time game where you smash your way through countent as fast as possible with complete strangers. I don't know if I would want a group / raid finder. Kind of defeats the purpose of building friendships in the game. I do get it though. We can't always play when our friends are on, but I will say this is an incredibly friendly community. I think once EA hits, it will a bit easier to find groups. Its been very limited up to this point. I just pledged, and I am waiting to login...hoping enough people did so that I can start to seriously group.
Fully agree with the above post. I don´t want a group or raid finder at all, or any kind of tool that automatically groups me with strangers.
For me the deal is that every class should be able to handle some content solo in all levels, to advance at a slow pace. And also, at all levels there should be content that can be handled in group only (even every challenging content now and then) as well as allowing you to progress faster through solo content by being a group
There does seem to be a large disparity in progress when fighting chevron mobs vs non-chevron mobs. If you are a group of 5 or 6, you HAVE to find chevrons if you want decent progress. And if you are in a group of 2 or 3, many times you are too powerful for regular mobs and not powerful enough for chevrons (in my experience). Many times, I have been in a group or trying to get one together but it falls apart because we cannot hit that sweet spot of being able to take chevrons AND finding an appropriate camp. I would say that even in a small group, killing regular mobs does not seem worth it (exp-wise) even if they are yellow or orange, etc. Hopefully some tuning will happen that makes all of these scenarios feel better.